Little Pear Tarts for Kinfolk

Ever since we removed wheat from our kitchen four years ago, I've been
making all sorts of almond shortbread. Almond meal and butter make such a
delicious team - who needs wheat anyway. Now that it's pear season...
an herbaceous pear tart with a buttery almond crust seems just the thing
to satisfy, so this is just the recipe I though to share in the autumn
issue of Kinfolk and I wanted to share with you too!

Using rosemary in the tart dough, and bay in the pear compote, we end up
with a good hit of garden herbs. Keep in mind, that both the almond
tart crust and the pear compote are wonderful eaten separately as well.

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ROSEMARY ALMOND SHORTBREAD CRUST (INGREDIENTS)makes 4 tartlets

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/3 cup golden honey

1.5 cups almond meal

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

4 small sprigs of rosemary for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients, except for the 4 extra sprigs of rosemary. Using
your fingertips, press dough into the bottoms and sides of four 5 inch
tart pans (buttered or nonstick). My girl Lilah loves to help with this
part.

Repeatedly poke the surface of the dough with a fork. Bake 10 minutes,
then poke the surface again with a fork to keep the dough from bubbling
up too much. Return tarts to the oven and bake another 5-8 minutes until
deep golden brown. Let cool. Serve at room temp, topped with pear
compote (see recipe below.)

Combine above ingredients in small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Cook
vigorously for 10 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid burning. Pour
compote into a jar. Let cool. If you aren’t going to serve the tarts
right away, cover your jar and refrigerate until later.

Just before serving, scoop pear compote onto the tart shells. Top each
little tart with a sprig of rosemary, just for the beauty of it.